Boeing submits Air Force tanker bid

Boeing submitted its bid for the Air Force's $35 billion refueling jet contract as the military tries once again to pick a winner for the troubled program.

Boeing will compete against the European aerospace company EADS, which put in its own bid Thursday.

The proposal was created by an integrated "One Boeing" team from various sites across the company, including employees from the Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Engineering, Operations & Technology organizations, according to a statement from Boeing.

"We are honored to support our U.S. Air Force customer and submit this proposal to meet the critical mission needs of this nation," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "Boeing has more than 60 years of experience developing, manufacturing and supporting tankers for America's warfighters, and we're ready to build the NewGen Tanker now. This revolutionary tanker will deliver widebody capabilities in a narrowbody footprint, operate in any theater or from any base, and - with the lowest operating cost of any tanker in the competition - save the Air Force and the American taxpayers billions of dollars."

The Pentagon has tried for almost a decade to award the contract. But previous attempts have failed over contractor disputes, Air Force errors, and criminal cases involving officials at the Pentagon and Boeing.

The Air Force hopes to choose a contractor by November.

The proposal was created by an integrated "One Boeing" team from various sites across the company, including employees from the Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Engineering, Operations & Technology organizations."We are honored to support our U.S. Air Force customer and submit this proposal to meet the critical mission needs of this nation," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "Boeing has more than 60 years of experience developing, manufacturing and supporting tankers for America's warfighters, and we're ready to build the NewGen Tanker now. This revolutionary tanker will deliver widebody capabilities in a narrowbody footprint, operate in any theater or from any base, and - with the lowest operating cost of any tanker in the competition - save the Air Force and the American taxpayers billions of dollars."